Witness of Hope - Faith Brings Miracles and Hope

There was a time in my life when I was hopeless. After years of seeing various fertility specialists and enduring several surgeries, I learned I would never be able to conceive a child. This news pierced my mama heart. As scripture says, I was barren (1 Samuel 1:5; Luke 1:7). I felt there was no one to turn to. I felt there was no one who understood the loss I held. I felt alone in this. It felt like I couldn’t even turn to God with whom I was deeply angry. My anger shut the only door to healing and hope.

In the five years I held this news, my anger only grew deeper. In the mire of my anger, feeling despondent and hopeless, I had a vivid dream on the night of my 45th birthday. In the dream, we had a daughter. In the dream, I knew she was adopted and yet, she looked like us. Despite the cloud of anger and the distance that had grown between myself and God, somehow, I knew God was speaking to me. After sharing the dream with my husband and many long conversations, we decided to cautiously pursue adoption.

As we started our journey of preparation, an acquaintance who worked with my husband and who learned of our story pulled me aside. She gave me her rosary. She told me she had prayed many prayers using those beads, and that many miracles and answered prayers had been granted through this particular rosary. I graciously accepted her gift, even though I knew I would never pray with those beads. I didn’t have a relationship with Mary, and rote prayer was not something I enjoyed. Yet, there was a deep desire to enfold my worries and anxieties about this process in prayer. I was still deeply angry with God.

One day, I sat down to pray, and there were no words. I remembered the gifted beads in the bottom of my purse and went to retrieve them. I prayed the rosary that day. I showed up the next day and prayed the rosary again. And then the next day, and the next, and the next. I showed up every day and invited Mary to pray with me and for me. Mother Mary accompanied me on this journey.

There were countless miracles along the way to our daughter—honestly, too many to cite here. But here are the top prayer requests of my heart. First, I prayed that although I was carrying my daughter in my heart, the journey would feel as if I were also carrying her in my womb. Second, I hoped that somehow we would feel wrapped in love, even though we would be miles away from home and family when our daughter was born. Third, I prayed that we would be in the room when our daughter was born and that there wouldn’t be any awkwardness. Fourth and finally, I pleaded that our birthmother would be able to let her birth daughter go, even after bonding with her during the night hours when we were at the hotel after visiting hours.

Through Mary’s prayer and intercession, here is how the Lord answered every prayer.

God planted the dream of our adopted daughter in my heart in May. Our daughter was born nine months later in February. We met our birthmother in her sixth month. We corresponded via email every day. She shared with me the details of what our daughter was doing in her womb. We flew to Texas and met our birthmother in December, her seventh month. We went with her to a prenatal check-up and were blessed to see our daughter on ultrasound. It was as if I carried her in my womb. God answered my first prayer.

We were informed that the hospital in Tyler, Texas was called Trinity Hospital. When we arrived on the day of our daughter’s birth, we saw the sign proclaiming the name of the hospital as Mother Frances Trinity Hospital, named after a mother superior who founded the religious order, Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. We were wrapped in love in this Catholic home. God answered my second prayer.

As it turned out, the epidural didn’t take effect on our birthmother, and she had to be put under anesthesia for the Caesarean birth of our daughter. We were in the room. We saw the birth of our daughter, and she was brought immediately to me to hold. There was never any awkwardness. I am still in awe that God answered this third prayer.

Shortly after our daughter was born, one of the labor and delivery nurses escorted us to a small room with a little twin-size hospital bed. She was apologetic for the room size but invited us to stay if we wanted. I turned to Gary and blurted out, through streams of tears, “I feel like Mary and Joseph, but there is room in the inn for us.” We stayed in the hospital, and our daughter stayed with us in our room. The bonding began with us.

On the final day of our stay in the hospital, leaving with our daughter was contingent on our birthmother signing the final papers placing her birthchild in our care. We dressed our daughter that morning and prayed over her. Then we took her to our birthmother’s room. I told her I wanted her to have some alone time so she could say goodbye in her own way.

As we waited for the social worker to inform us that we could leave the hospital with our daughter, we walked around the hospital grounds. Eventually, we came upon a statue of Mother Frances. The bronze statue was of her sheltering a little girl with her habit. As we read the story of Mother Frances, we learned that upon immigrating to Chicago from Poland, she worked at an orphanage, and one little girl would plead with her daily, “Be my mommy.” The story further informed us that Mother Frances legally adopted the little girl as her daughter. As I read the words of her story, I fell to my knees, sobbing. This was no coincidence. I was at a hospital to adopt a daughter named after a Catholic sister who adopted a daughter. I felt an immediate release of my anger. I knew Mother Mary was my advocate of hope, my witness of hope. I am certain that the Holy Family of Nazareth held us during this journey to our daughter. In this very moment, I heard clearly the words from our Lord: “Take courage daughter; your faith has healed you.”

God answered not only the prayers I pleaded, but in ways I could not have dreamed were possible. God not only answered my prayers but brought me home in my relationship with God. God did this in the most unexpected way–by sending me Mother Mary.

Mary restored my hope. Through Mary’s intercession, God surrounded me with people who were my witnesses of hope: The acquaintance, our birthmother, the labor and delivery nurse, Mother Frances—foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Mary and I don’t talk every day, but on those days when hope feels lost, I know Mother Mary is my go-to. She always guides me back to our Lord, her Son, who is our true and only source of hope.

Recall a time when you felt hopeless. Who were your witnesses of hope? Perhaps today, you can offer a prayer of hope and thanksgiving for them. Finally, as I write about my witnesses of hope on this particular journey, I can’t help but ask God to show me whom God wants me to show up for today as a witness of hope. How about you? How is God calling you to be a witness of hope?

Going Deeper:

• Pray The Jubilee Prayer.

• Take a moment today and pray a prayer of hope and thanksgiving for the many witnesses of hope God has brought to your journey of life.

• Increase your awareness of those whom God might be asking you to show up for as a witness of hope. Pray “God, show me what is mine to do.”

Photo by Kim Scott.

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Kim Scott

Kim joined the Ignatian Ministries team in September of 2024. Kim has enjoyed a 20-year career as a Human Resources executive. As she transitioned into mid-life, her desire for finding a deeper meaning and purpose for her life led her to the grace of adoption and then to begin a new career in church ministry. For almost 20 years, Kim walked with countless souls as a spiritual mentor, helping others discover their inner life and unique meaning and purpose. Kim describes her life’s purpose as being a force and a voice for hope and healing. She lives in Henderson, NV with Gary, her husband of 30+ years and Kiara, their young adult daughter.